Live without Warning

You could say I was pretty lucky to be working at a record studio; I've seen and talked to many musicians during the past six months since I've lived down here, but, you know, every time I met someone famous, I could never really see the big deal about them. Sure, I understood they had money, a lot of it too, but each one of them was just like me: they had flesh that became itchy every-so-often, eyes that watered when they laughed, noses that sneezed when irritated, and hair that took forever to tame. So I just came to realization one day that they were like me, except they could sing or play an instruments; that I couldn't do. However, some of them were very egotistic when it came to themselves; I probably counted about half a dozen half-dressed women pop in and out of the studio just to see a rock star. That's the one thing I could not tolerate about my job: the Groupies.

It was Friday afternoon, also known to be my free day. I usually work on weekends and twice during the work-week, the other two days I'm at school, so this was the only day I could jog with my dog, Jasper. Usually I'm pretty fit, but lately it's been so hard trying to get my jog with my college work piling up and my part-time job taking most of my time. Don't get me wrong, I was thankful for my life: I lived in Oakland, California, I was taking a Music Engineering course at the community college and I was working for my older brother, Scott, at a record studio.

The day was nicest it had been all week, which doesn't say much; the sun was trying to beam through an overcast sky, it was windy but not too windy, and the temperature was perfect for a jog.

I had been running for about an hour with Jasper by my side and my IPod blaring out the music by Paramore; one of my favorite bands that I hadn't been lucky to meet yet; however, thinking about the bands that I've been meeting lately, maybe it was a good thing I haven't met them.

I passed by the cafe across the street from my work; it's the cafe I go in to get the stuff my brother, his co-workers, and the musicians that record there want. I guess you could say I was nothing important to the music industry as I like to think I am sometimes; I'm just the girl that takes the orders and does them.

I had to stop running. I had never run so long before and my legs were becoming weak. I looked around at my surroundings; on one side was a high school, the other side was a bunch of trees that, of course, led into a forest. It was definitely different from the usual sites I have to look at everyday; this area felt peaceful.

I turned my head towards the school once I heard the school bell go off. The loud noise had made me jump a little, however, Jasper ran for it once the bell had stopped. It wasn't the most perfect time to walk in front of the school.

"No! Jasper!" I yelled after him right when he started taking off.

The only way I was going to catch up with him was if I forced myself to keep running. So I did. I ran for him. I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch up with him with the speed he was going, but I kept running his direction.

I ran into the forest across the street where I had last seen him go. By the time I had entered and ran a good ten minutes without thinking about what part of the woods I had entered, I had lost him, and I felt lost too.

I looked around; trees, trails, trees, trails, trees, trails were all that surrounded me. I shook my head slightly, ashamed that I had lost my dog, and in the process of trying to keep up with him, I had lost myself. This was not turning out to be the greatest day for me - actually, I have never witnessed a great day to be honest. However, my luck had slightly turned around when I heard Jasper bark and the voice of what sounded to be a man.

I followed the bark and the voice as best as I could. Since it was about the distance of a football field away, I ran for it until I found the civilization.

There was Jasper and a man turned towards the dog. I started to walk up to them once I noticed them.

"Jasper, there you are," I said, relieved that he was found.

I looked up at the man who had stopped my dog from running; he was mumbling and mocking sarcastically to himself that it was hard to tell if he realized I was there. However, once I studied his face and his voice a little more, I realized I had run into the drummer from Green Day. How odd to run into him in the middle of an abandoned forest.

"Hey, aren’t you Tre Cool?" I had said over his mumbling. "Sorry about my dog."

He still had not stopped with his odd mumbling and mocking, I was wondering if he was okay. Since this was a musician I had never met before, I thought it would be best just to thank him and leave.

I glimpsed around the forest awkwardly, then said, "Thank you for stopping him before he got too far into the woods," - if this wasn't far enough.

I turned around and started to walk, but before I got to my second step, Tre finally knocked himself back into reality and spoke to me, "Yes, I'm Tre Cool, the drummer from Green Day."

He titled himself with no energy at all; it was like he rehearsed that line over and over again until he just got fed up with it.

I turned back around and smiled slightly, "I know. I just said that."

"You know; I am really sick of girls going out with me because of my wallet," he said sounding aggravated.

I didn't know how to respond to that line; I just kept repeating it in my head for a while until I thought of something to say, which was difficult to think of. Usually I'm the one that makes the musician feel awkward with my dumb words, but I must say, I had never felt so awkward in my life until that moment.

"Then maybe you should stop taking your wallet with you on dates," I said slowly, joking. I wanted to see a smile on his face. The one thing I admired about Tre Cool the most - other than his drumming - was his smile and sense of humor.

He laughed slightly, "Good one."

I smiled a bit more. Mission accomplish, I thought.

"No. But seriously..." he began.

Here we go again.

"Why is it that every time I try to build a serious relationship..." he began walking.

I figured he was expecting me to follow him and listen to his relationship problem, so I followed.

"I find out they want my money?"

I didn't know how he expected me to know the answer to his ongoing, women problems, but since I was walking with him, might as well keep conversations flowing.

"I don't know. I think for a lot of people, money and wealth over takes everything," I tried to make sense, but I couldn't help but think how weird the encounter was.

There was silence for a moment as we walked; perhaps he was thinking about what I just said. The whole time, however, he was starring at Jasper walking in front of us.

"But you were married," I reminded him.

Green Day was one of my favorite bands and I had followed their career since Dookie had been released. I was very young, though, I remember a lot of the songs being blasted from Scott's room. Once I got older, I started buying the albums myself.

"Yeah, but they got what they needed," I could feel the tense energy from him jumping onto me, "the kids and a lot of my money..."

I couldn’t help but regret bringing that subject up. I decided to not ask anything else about his past wives; instead, I watched Jasper sniff the leaves and twigs in front of us.

"You don't put him on a leash- him- her- it?" Tre had broken the awkward silence.

I smiled slightly at the way he worded his sentence, "No. He jogs with me, and he usually sticks with me, but the sound of the stupid school bell scared him."

"Yea, school sucks; probably why I dropped out," he kicked a stone.

I could sense he was starting to feel better and loosen up.

"I know what you mean. I wish I didn't have to go to school sometimes."

To be honest, I didn’t mean that, but I didn't know what else to say.

"You're in high school?"

"College, second year; I use to go to college in Canada, but I moved here a few months ago."

"Why?"

"Better programs here and my brother got me a job at the business he runs. I figured I could get a lot accomplished here."

I finally began to see the street up ahead. It wasn’t the street Jasper and I were running, but it was still a street.

"Hey, I'm sorry about bringing my problems out on you, and I never asked your name," he pointed out as we approached a BMW parked across the street from the forest.

"My name's Autumn, and it's okay. Sometimes that happens to be me too," I smiled lightly.

We had stopped in front of the vehicle, and I think this was the first time he actually took a second to look at me. His hair was brown, probably his natural color, he looked a little older than the Tre Cool I remembered from my Green Day posters I had tacked to my bedroom walls years ago when Nimrod was popular. Even though he had aged slightly and was now in his late twenties, or maybe even early thirties, he still looked like the man I had admired as a kid.

"So do you spell that with a little 'A' or a capital 'A'?" he asked with one eyebrow arched.

I laughed lightly, "What? Capital, of course. You couldn't think of a better insult towards my name?"

He shrugged, "I was going to ask if your nicknames were Auto or Tum-Tum."

"Actually, those were the names kids called me when I was little."

Again, I couldn’t help but laugh. This was the Tre Cool I had remembered watching in interviews as a kid; this Tre was a lot better to hang with than the one I was walking with in the forest.

"Anyway..." he began after a moment of silence (I was happy to see he was feeling better), "Since you had to listen to me whine about my problems, I'll give you a ride home or wherever you want to go."

He opened the car door he had previously been leaning on; passenger side. I could tell he was expecting me to get in.

I shook my head, "Thanks, but I might as well just run home; I think Jasper still has energy to burn."

I looked over to my dog and I sensed Tre did as well. Jasper was chasing his tail in circles; he sounded mad that he couldn't get a grip on it.

Tre looked back at me after having a little laugh at Jasper; I looked back at him.

"I don't mind taking you home, but it's your choice." He shut the passenger door and began walking to the driver's side of the vehicle; I followed.

"If I ever run into you again, I'll wave," I smiled as I watched him get into his seat.

"I'll definitely remember you; I've never bitched to a girl I had just walked into before. Besides, how can I forget a pretty girl who's named after a season?" he smiled wide.

I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face; I couldn’t help but blush slightly, "Thank you, but I got to leave." I looked over at my aggravated dog, "Jasper, let's go."

“Bye,” I heard Tre say right before I started to take my first few steps.

I turned my head to look at him, and I waved.